“Just as I was about to turn away, I heard shouts from the bottom of the pit. I drew nearer to the edge and looked down. Two boys were beckoning and shouting to me to run for assistance.”
“Two?” asked Ned anxiously.
“Only two,” replied Norman. “There was another lying on the ground and he looked to me as if he might be dead.”
“Why didn’t you find out?” asked Ned.
“There is always quite a wind up on the mountains at this time of night,” the boy answered, “and I couldn’t understand all they said. I understood, however, that they wanted me to come for you.”
“And you want us to go with you to this Devil’s Punch Bowl, I presume,” scoffed Jimmie.
“If you can find the place alone, I’ll go back to the old mission,” answered Norman. “It is not so very far away.”
“What sort of a place is this Devil’s Punch Bowl?” asked Ned, moving toward the cave and beckoning Norman to follow.
“It is just a deep pit between two ridges,” was the answer. “It must be a hundred or more feet to the bottom. The sides are so steep that escape from it is impossible.”
“It must be a dangerous place,” Ned agreed.